As reports of subway groping rise, Japanese try women-only cars

In early May, seven private railways and two subway operators in the Tokyo area decided to introduce women-only cars in order to cut down on the number of groping incidents on crowded trains, reports Knight Ridder News.

A police spokesman said groping has been a problem for many years, but that the number of arrests has gone up because these days most young women carry cell phones capable of sending e-mail and taking pictures, and they're using them to report offenses.

Some men, however, are protesting.

"This system is discriminating against men," he said. "We pay the same fare and yet are labeled as evil persons. Not all men are gropers. This is insulting."

Spanish Nightclub, Again

The second Tuesday of the month is implant night at the Baja and apparently British firm Surge IT systems has bought 9000 of the chips and 110 scanners for security, education and identification. [via The Inquirer via RFIDNews.

"You can buy drinks in Baja Beach Club in Barcelona if you let them chip you up by injecting you with a VeriChip.

The Verichip, made by Applied Digital Solutions is injected by a quack under local anaesthetic and is made of glass. The chip contains RFID, your name and the amount of dosh you have in your Baja account, said Discovery.

When you go to buy a drink, a very attractive young lady apparently passes a scanner over your body and the picture with the feature shows this is relatively painless."

Related articles:

-- Buy your martini with a chip (WMMNA)

-- An injection of RFID or GPS anyone? (WMMNA)

"No Kidding", Wearable Electronics for Children

This garment, an exploration of Wearable Electronics by Philips, uses mobile phone and camera technology to help parents pin point their kids' position, but also fabric antennas, radio tagging and miniature remote cameras to allow children to play exciting games outdoors.

Physical characters with identity chips can be attached to the respective garments. The child sees the character that represents another child on his screen and as children move around their characters also move on the screens, allowing them to create their own stories or hide and seek situations.

[via Personal Debris]

The winners of the MMS Stamp competition

Last February, The Swiss Post Office, Wireless operator Swisscom Mobile and the Museum of Communication launched the world's first MMS Stamp contest.

Participants sent in their cameraphone shots. The four best, voted by the public by SMS, will have their pictures made into a limited edition of postal stamps, to be issued in September 2005.

The four MMS photos were taken at four very different places: on a ride across country, during a hike on the Stockhorn mountain, on top of the Rigi mountain and on the photographer's balcony.

Here are the four pictures selected from over 3,300 MMS photos submitted by the general public. [via Cellular News].

Miniature Porn

Forbes has a great article on how mobile porn is headed to cell phones and though some carriers are shy about offering it, it's expected to provide one-third of their total revenue in the next five years.

Of interest and new to this column, some mobile porn games:

-- In Europe, Cherry Media offers a game letting cell subscribers create their ideal woman. Blonde or brunette? Thin or with a voluptuous behind? Sweet or naughty? The game then serves up the appropriate photo. Cherry also offers a "Choose your own adventure" game in which players try to lure a woman into bed (they don't always win).

-- Enquire, a mobile-content outfit in Barcelona, offers Mooobile, a site that has contestants pick through online photos to guess which pairs of breasts have silicone implants and match body parts to their owners. Enquire's Voooyeur lets exhibitionists post nude photos of themselves. Its Mooobilecontent portal offers carriers a place to buy amateur porn videos. John Delano, head of Enquire, says his strategy is "to be creative around the mobile phone as a sexual device. It's more than just moving images from the Internet onto the phone."

Vivid's Hirsch thinks there is demand for on-demand, live, interactive video on mobile phones. By year-end VividNow subscribers will be able to have video chats with their favorite girls. Eventually they'll be able to tell porn stars exactly how to make love to the camera. Now that's entertainment.

Tortured for £75: a victim of the new form of 'happy slapping' designed to instil terror

The Telegraph describes a video footage of an attack on terrified teenager tied to a railing in a dark stairway, obtained as a result of an investigation by the Sunday paper, which reveals an escalation in happy slapping violence, extortion.

"His face is marked with a black pen. The voice of a vicious thug taunts his victim, hitting him repeatedly while another yob films the disturbing act on his mobile phone. His attacker wants money - £75 to be precise - and he will not accept any answering back.

Torture and extortion of this nature appear to be an escalation of the "happy slapping" craze which began with teenagers slapping adults on public transport and filming the incidents on their mobiles to later exchange like Pokemon cards or football stickers.

Graham Barnfield, a youth studies expert with the University of East London said: "In the case of 'happy slapping' the motive appears to be humour, sick though it is. This film is on a whole new level. It appears motivated by the desire to strike fear and terror into an individual.

The video was posted on an American website where clips of CCTV footage of real crimes, jokes and prank videos are shown alongside clips of "happy slapping". Police cannot have the site shut down because hosting the films is not illegal".

A spokesman for the Internet Watch Foundation said: "It is a matter for the police - clearly it is an assault. But it is not illegal to show the films. This phenomenon is a sad indictment of our society."

Related stories.

U.S. Army to Deploy RFID Listening 'Rocks'

The U.S. Army plans to deploy in as early as 18 months new RFID-enabled rocks that are dropped by the thousands over battlefields and "listen" for approaching enemies.

Though they look like small, natural rocks they're actually embedded with microprocessors and listening electronics that are so sensitive they can hear a person stepping on the ground 30 feet away.

[via Mike's List]

Pictures taken underwater with a mobile phone

A new shockproof and waterproof casing that fits 95% of all cell phones has been released onto the German market.

The Wave Case is a universal waterproof mobile phone casing that'll work with any phone no larger than 110 mm long, 55 mm long and 22mm wide.

There's a strap that prevents the phone from sinking if you let it go while underwater, and the Wave Case comes in four colours; red, yellow, blue and pink.

More underwater pictures here, taken with a Nokia 3230.

[via Gizmag]

Toppan develops paper that protects RFID data

Toppan Printing developed paper that protects RFID cards such as RFID train passes, corporate ID cards, RFID payment cards from skimming attacks, reports RFID in Japan.

"It functions as so-called Faradey Cage, that is, the paper has a very thin layer of metal in it. So, wrapping an RFID card with the paper is like wrapping it with a metal sheet that shuts out electro-magnetic fields.

The company plans to commercialize the technology by this fall".

Virgin Mobile plans TV handset service to lift customer spend

Virgin Mobile is planning to launch a television service that will allow customers to watch a range of digital channels and even record programmes on their mobile phones, reports The Guardian.

"The Virgin Mobile service, provisionally named VMTV, will take the existing digital broadcast signal and adapt it so it can be viewed on a mobile phone.

Virgin Mobile refused to name its broadcast partners yesterday but is understood to be in talks with a number of digital TV providers, including BSkyB. It is also seeking to use handsets that will allow customers to record programmes and watch them later."

'Happy slapping' victim tells how attack was filmed

A teenage girl gives Hendon Times a first account of how three girls punched her in the face while a boy filmed the sickening attack on his mobile phone.

"And in a more bizarre stunt, a teenage boy broke his ankle after throwing himself from the second floor of a Brent Cross multi-storey car park as part of a dare. He was being egged on by his friends who filmed him on their camera phones.

Related stories.

QR Clip Music System

QR Clip Music System is a web hosting service that allows amateur musicians to easily disseminate thier songs to people's mobile phones. Uploaded songs can be heard by simply scanning a corresponding QR code using a camera phone.

[via RFID in Japan]

RFID tagged Ginseng

SK Teleco has signed up with Korea Ginseng Corp. for a pilot program involving tagging KGC's red ginseng product, ‘Cheong-Kwan-Jang', the most famous Asian herb in medicinal use for thousands of years, reports Telecoms Korea.

"Electronic tags on product packaging of KGC will allow manufacturers and distributors to keep track of products as they move through the supply chain.

Also, RFID is expected to protect Korean ginseng products against counterfeit".

Boy, 12 videoed as he was attacked

Yet another happy slap incident. Morecambe reports.

"A schoolboy suffered a terrifying 'happy slapping' attack in Carnforth as police vowed to crack down on this latest violent craze sweeping the nation. This was the first such attack to be reported in the Lancaster and Morecambe district.

In London, police have investigated over 200 'happy slapping' attacks in the past six months.

As the craze has spread from London to the home counties to the north of England, the attacks have become more menacing, with increasing numbers of violent assaults reported.

Prime Minister Tony Blair recently promised to crack down on the yob culture in Britain of which 'happy slapping' is just a small part.

Click here for related articles.

Taking Photographs Constitutionally Protected, NYC Ban Scrapped

The act of taking a photograph in a public place is protected First Amendment expression, reports The Empire Journal.

After civil libertarians, New York City officials and members of the public expressed concerns about a proposed ban of photography, videotaping and filming in the city's subways, trains and buses, the New York City Police Department has withdrawn its request.

The NYPD Transit Bureau had requested the ban and the Metropolitan Transit Authority and NYC Transit Authority formally announced a proposal to do so, purportedly as an attempt to deter surveillance by terrorists.

"The NYCLU said the proposed regulation was unconstitutional on its face in that the exceptions in the proposal were too narrow and too vague. Additionally, the group said the ban would threaten millions of MTA riders with wholly unnecessary and perhaps discriminatory interactions with police officers. “In an age where cameras are becoming ubiquitous through camera cell phones, virtually every subway rider will become a suspect and possible target of a police stop”.

Link to Stop judicial tyranny magnetic ribbon

Man, 62, pleads guilty in cell phone camera case

A man who used a cell phone camera to try to take pictures up the skirts of girls and women in public places in northern San Diego pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted lewd conduct, reports SignOnSanDiego.

"Commissioner Sandra Berry immediately sentenced Alan Campbell, 62 to three years probation and ordered him to undergo psychological counseling and stay away from a number of named victims, said Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler."

Curitel Unveils ‘T-Slide Phones'

Pantech&Curitel, Korea's third-largest handset maker, has launched its new T-slide, multimedia models, the PT-S110 and the PT-K1100, reports Telecoms Korea.

"The new phones are described as ‘T-slide' models because, when the bottom slider is fully stretched with the vertical display rotated at a 90 degree angle, the handset forms a T-shape.

In addition, both phones automatically recognize the horizontal and vertical display, with users not being required to change any specific phone settings.

Both models include a two mega pixel camera, with auto focus functionality and internal flash."

Picture left : PT-K1100

RFID "USED Clothing" - winner of the [next idea] category at Ars Electronica

“USED Clothing” is a concept for furnishing clothes with additional information, created by Martin Mairinger (Austria). It won the "[the next idea] Art and Technology Grant" at Ars Electronica. [via Rhizome.org].

"A radio frequency identification (RFID) chip to which the wearer can save information about himself/herself is sewn into each garment. When the item of clothing—for instance, a jacket, pair of pants or T-shirt—is sold at a special second-hand shop, the buyer can access this information online and find out about the garment's past.

The interests and personal philosophy of individuals with a preference for the same type of clothing often resemble one another.

DDI Launches EZ TV Platform with Five New Handsets

KDDI has announced the lauch of five June-release handsets to support live analog TV reception and ramped up EZ television features plus a new SafetyNavi GPS function.

[via Wireless Watch Japan]

Cell phones screened at Apple shareholder meeting

At Apple Computer's shareholder meeting in April, attendees weren't allowed to take pictures. So what did security personnel check for, among other things? Cell phones.

It was the latest example of how camera phones are friend to some, foe to others.

From The San Francisco Chronicle in a round-up article on camera phones and privacy issues.

Nokia to air NBA video on cellphones in China

Nokia and the National Basketball Association have agreed on a contract that expands their relationship into China, reports The Globe and Mail.

"The agreement marks the first time that video of a North American sports league will be available on mobile phones in the world's most populous nation, the NBA said. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

It's the NBA's most recent foray in China, where it estimates 300 million people play basketball. In recent surveys cited by the league, 75 per cent of Chinese men ages 15 to 24 said they were NBA fans."

New Cameraphone Lens Under Development

Canadian researchers have developed a new lens for cameraphones that would take clearer pictures while taking up less space, reports The Canadian Press via Phone Scoop.

"The new lens, which is much thinner than a piece of paper, is not made of glass or plastic like current lenses, but of a thin sheet of LCD crystals coated with a light sensitive compound.

Tiny shocks of electricity can change the shape of the lens to adjust focus or zoom. The researchers are currently seeking partners to prototype and manufacture the lens".

Samsung to release new satellite DMB phone

Samsung Electronics announced Sunday that it would roll out a new satellite DMB phone, reports Telecoms Korea

"The SCH-B130 is a clamshell phone which enables users to “multitask”, meaning they can make calls or send text messages while watching DMB.

Users can watch DMB for a total of 150 minutes and the DMB phone features 1.3M pixel camera, MP3 player, TV out and external memory card(RS-MMC)."

Cell phones gone wild

Obscene phone calls are about to take on a whole new meaning, reports The New York Daily News.

"As a new generation of mobile phones begins to offer video-on-demand service, analysts predict naughty movies will soon be a popular download.

The major carriers are hanging back, but others are jumping into what Yankee Group analyst Adam Zawel expects will be a $100 million industry in the United States by 2008.

[...] Some adult sites popping up that bypass the phone carriers altogether. Gramercy-based
Wicked Wireless plans to let customers swap sexy text messages with porn starlets.

"The idea is to make it peer to peer, rather than to the public," said Dennis Odamo, chief executive officer of the company. "The phone company doesn't care what you say to each other, but they do care what they say to an audience."

Attempts to Control Controversial Photos Are Futile

Steve Outing has a very interesting commentary on the leaked photos by The Sun, of Saddam Hussein in his underwear and the military's outrage at their publication.

"What's laughable is not the former dictator's skivvies, but military leaders' naivety about the media world we now live in. They don't have to like it, of course, but in a world of small digital cameras, photo cell phones, e-mail, "citizen journalists," and several million blogs, for any organization to think that they can control photos like this is absurd.

[...] even if Sun editors had been more discreet and decided not to run Saddam in his underwear on their front page, you can be assured that the images would have turned up on some blog, then spread around the Internet in a flash.

[...] there's little anyone could have done once someone with a digital camera or photo phone got access to Saddam's private prison space. We do not live in the same world as we did even a decade ago.

Picture from the BBC

Gang 'happy slaps' cancer woman

Another happy slapping incident reaches new heights in vileness. The BBC reports.

"The girlfriend of TV presenter Matthew Wright, Caroline Monk, 35, who lost her hair during treatment for breast cancer, was called a "slaphead" and knocked to the ground by a gang of teenagers.

"Ms Monk, who describes the attack in her column in Closer magazine, had been walking with her 60-year-old mother when a boy ran at her with his arm outstretched and knocked her to the pavement.

She said: "I was lying on the ground and all the other lads were running up, pointing at me, shouting 'slaphead, slaphead'."

She said she started crying and shouted at the teenagers that she had cancer. Some, she said, muttered an apology.

Matthew Wright, who presents Channel Five's The Wright Stuff, said: "When people go around torturing and abusing people with cancer, it makes you wonder what kind of world we live in."

Related stories:

-- Happy-slappers now target pizza delivery drivers

-- Girl arrested over 'happy slapping' attack

-- Mother's Anger at 'Happy Slapping' Attack

-- Does 'happy slapping' exist?

-- Thugs film girl attack on phone

-- "Happy Slapping" footage

-- Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze

-- The Happy Slap collection

-- Sick beating is filmed for fun

-- Happy slap culprits face suspension

-- Schools Ban Camera Phones Amid 'Happy Slapping' Craze

-- Putting the photos in perspective

Mobile blogs give citizen journalism legs

A wonderful article by News.com on moblogging.

"Text messaging and camera phones have put two powerful storytelling tools in the hands of millions of potential correspondents around the world," Robert Niles, editor of the Online Journalism Review at University of Southern California's journalism school, said in an e-mail exchange.

"So it is now inevitable that when something newsworthy happens in public, someone will be there to document that event online instantly.

The recent tsunami in South Asia gave evidence of moblogs' power and widespread use. Shortly after it struck, dispatches began appearing on blogs, often beating mainstream media to the unfolding story. One such blog was Waveofdestruction.org, created by Australian Geoffrey Huntley and made up of video and photos taken at the scene."

And interesting, some moblog history:

Adam Greenfield, who helped organize the First International Moblogging Conference, is credited with coining the term in 2002. But moblogging--defined as using a mobile device to publish on the Internet--dates back to the 1990s.

Most believe Steve Mann was the first to put photos on the Web from a mobile device, a bulky computer he carried with him. His first entry is hardly dramatic: "feb. 22, 1995: most of my day was quite boring, walking to lab, pizza at food trucks etc." But when he later comes across a building on fire, he records the scene in about 45 Internet photos--in what would now be thought of as moblogging."

Financial Times Expands Mobile Service With Video & Audio

The Financial Times is expanding into the mobile market in preparation against loss of revenue from its print business and has plans to offer news in video and audio format rather than just text. The publisher is in talks with the UKs four main mobile operators to provide the news service, which is planned for launch in late May or early June.

[ via MocoNews ]

Happy-slappers now target pizza delivery drivers

This is starting to get way out of hand.

According to icCroydon, pizza delivery drivers are being targeted by a violent gang who assault them before taking pictures of the victims on their mobile phones.

"The attacks have been taking place across Croydon and Purley, and the situation is so serious that some roads in Waddon have now been blacklisted by pizza delivery stores.

The incidents are a more sinister version of the 'happy slapping', craze in which youths hit members of the public whilst taking their picture on a phone."

Lost Identity

mobuzzTV's very short film submission, entered in this category in the Cannes Festival, is online for viewing. Starring Emma Rebaldi and Jack Rebaldi. They got my vote!